Photo Credit: Thomas Groom
Rising metalcore outfit Pridelands have put their heart and soul into their debut album Light Bends. Taking over production and engineering duties when COVID lockdowns struck, there was no stopping the Australian quintet, who released the captivating record via SharpTone Records earlier this month. We caught up with vocalist Joshua Cory following the album release, to discuss the band’s formation, influences, ambitions and more.
Firstly, please tell us a bit about yourself and Pridelands.
My name is Joshua, I sing for the band. We’ve been going by this name for like seven years now, but as our current unit we’ve been together for about four. We’re from Melbourne, Australia and we absolutely adore the opportunities we have to make music together and to talk to you guys about our new record among other things. Thank you for having us!
How did the band form and how long have you been together?
As I mentioned before, we’ve technically been a band for seven or eight years now. A few of us went to high school together and tried to write some songs when myself and another guy named Ryan came into the fold, and yeah, we just did what teenagers who were into music do. We were attending every local show possible just trying to get a feel for the song writing and recording process. I come from a jazz background, so I was juggling ensemble rehearsals with this band in my last year of high school and eventually we packed up and left our hometown of Mt Gambier, SA and moved to Melbourne. The rest is history as they say.
Can you remember the first time you realised you wanted to make music?
For me personally it was the first time I heard the band Rise Against. Everything about that band was so intoxicating, from their riffs to their hooks and their message. I saw a band that wanted to change the world with their music, and I found that notion to be so powerful. They changed how I saw music and the world as a whole and they’ve stuck with me throughout the years for that reason. Right now, that’s all I want to do. When someone tells me that our music or lyrics has made them feel something of significance in any way, I feel complete as a person. All I’ve ever wanted was to connect with people in that unique and spiritual way that music allows for.
Who and what are Pridelands’ main influences?
It’s so hard to pin down to individual people or artists. We draw inspiration and influence from everything, be it from film and other contemporary media, other genres, our friends who make music alongside us, our families – the list goes on. Our record was heavily inspired by the works of Sleep Token and Linkin Park’s record A Thousand Suns, to quickly name a couple. For me personally, a lot of my songwriting inspiration was drawn from my favourite video games that I believe firmly are artistic triumphs. From Software’s Bloodborne and the Dark Souls series are standouts in that category for me.
What do you aim to achieve as a band?
We want to get out and see the world, we want to show people a good time when we play for them and to write good honest music. Our focus has never been on financial success or wild popularity, it’s always been more important for us to make that intimate connection with the people who enjoy our music. Our hopes for our new record fall nothing short of that. We still absolutely love listening to it now and it’s been two years since we finished working on it, so we hope that those out there listening feel the same.
For those who are yet to see you live, what can they expect from a Pridelands show?
We of course want to create a special kind of energy on stage that gives the people who come to see us an unforgettable experience. We try to leave it all on stage when we go out, just delivering the best show possible while keeping it professional and entertaining. We’ve been inspired by performances of bands out of places like Japan and Europe, that bring a special kind of high-octane or ritualistic feel to their show, and that’s the kind of thing that we want to implement going forward. We have the opportunity to go out night after night and play incredible shows to incredible people, so we feel that we owe them the experience of a lifetime there. It’s all about that at the end of the day for us.
What’s next for Pridelands?
Survive COVID, get out on the road, smash out an album tour, hopefully work with our new international booking team to get out to the US and Europe as soon as we’re allowed to, and just show people what we’re all about. We’d love to get to the UK and work on record #2 with our main man George Lever when we have enough songs to take over there. Other than that, just take it a day at a time and try our best. That’s all we can do at the end of the day.
Pridelands‘ debut album Light Bends is out now via SharpTone Records, available to stream or purchase HERE.
